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Configure IIS 7 for Custom Error Pages

Page 1 of 2

Written by Gregory Scot Collins

Tuesday, 31 July 2007, 9:32 PM

This article has been tested to work with the following products and versions. No guarantee of compatibility, with or without modification, is offered for products or versions other than those listed.

Internet Information Services 7 (Microsoft)

IN THIS ARTICLE:

Many Web sites use custom error pages to maintain site branding when a user encounters an error on that site. Other Web sites use custom error pages to perform URL rewriting—a way of allowing users to navigate the site with non-existent addresses and, behind the scenes, returning valid pages. Whatever they are used for, custom error pages are easy to set up and can be created using any valid page type, including, but not limited to, HTML and ASP.NET pages.

Internet Information Services (IIS) version 6, which shipped as part of Windows Server 2003 and, in a feature-limited version, as part of Windows XP, had custom errors turned on by default and only required specifying the custom page that a particular error code should use. IIS 7, however, is preconfigured to return detailed errors for local requests and custom error pages for remote requests. This change can be confusing to anyone making the transition from an earlier version of IIS to version 7. Without making the proper configuration changes, your attempts to use custom error pages will result in a server error, as shown in Screenshot 1.

Screenshot 1. By default, IIS 7 is set up to return detailed errors.

Create a test custom error page

Use the following steps to test whether you have IIS 7 correctly configured to display custom error pages:

Launch a text editor and copy the following code into it.

<html><body>My custom error page</body></html>

Save the file as custom404.html in your Web folder (typically c:\inetpub\wwwroot).
Launch your web browser.
Navigate to http://localhost/noexist.

If IIS is not correctly configured, you will see an error message like the one shown in Screenshot 1. If it is correctly configured, you will see your custom error page, as shown in Screenshot 4.

CONTINUED: Configure IIS for custom error pages

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	Screenshot 1 - By default, IIS 7 is set up to return detailed errors.
	Screenshot 2 - Configuring IIS 7 to return a custom error page when a 404 error is encountered.
	Screenshot 3 - Configuring IIS 7 to always return custom error pages.
	Screenshot 4 - A custom error pages is returned when a 404 error is encountered.

		See Also
	Click to view Braintrove article: Prevent Users from Seeing ASP.NET Error Pages Written by Gregory Scot Collins Friday, 21 April 2006, 9:46 AM Product: ASP.NET Create a positive user experience by ensuring that those using your ASP.NET applications are redirecting away from errors to a more friendly page. Prevent Users from Seeing ASP.NET Error Pages

		Article Tags
	404 Branding Custom Error Pages Detailed Errors Errors IIS Internet Information Services Local Errors Remote Errors Status Codes URL Rewriting

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